Théophane Vénard

Jean-Théophane Vénard (21 November 1829 at Saint-Loup-sur-Thouet, Diocese of Poitiers, France – 2 February 1861 in Tonkin, Vietnam) was a French Catholic missionary to Indo-China. He was a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was beatified in company with thirty-three other Catholic martyrs, most of whom were natives of Tonkin, Cochin-China, or China. Pope John Paul II canonized him, with nineteen other martyrs, in 1988.

Life

Vénard was one of six children born to the local schoolmaster and his wife. One of Theophane's brothers, Eusebins, later became cure of the parish of Assai, a small village not far from Saint Loup. His sister Melanie entered a religious community at Amiens. As a young boy, he read of the martyrdom of Jean-Charles Cornay and was inspired to become a missionary.

Having learned the basics of Latin from the local parish priest, in 1841 Vénard commenced studies at the college of Doué-la-Fontaine. At the age of eighteen he began philosophical studies at the seminary in Montmorillon, followed by theological studies at the major seminary in Poitiers. He entered the Paris Seminary for Foreign Missions as a sub-deacon and was ordained a priest on 5 June 1852. Shortly after Vénard's arrival a new royal edict was issued against Christians, and bishops and priests were obliged to seek refuge in caves, dense woods, and elsewhere.

Vénard headed for the mountains, where he continued to exercise his ministry, mostly at night. On 30 November 1860, he was captured and sent to the city of Phủ Lý. From there he was taken to the prefecture in Hanoi. Tried before a mandarin, he refused to apostatize and step on a crucifix. He was sentenced to be beheaded. Vénard remained a captive until 2 February, and during this interval lived in a cage, from which he wrote to his family beautiful and consoling letters, joyful in anticipation of his crown. On the way to martyrdom Vénard chanted psalms and hymns. To his executioner, who coveted his clothing and asked what he would give to be killed promptly, he answered: "The longer it lasts the better it will be". His head, after exposure at the top of a pole, was secured by the Christians and is now venerated in Tonkin. The body rests in the crypt at the motherhouse of the Paris Foreign Mission Society in Paris, France.

Roman Martyrology: "In Hanoi, Tonkin, now Viet Nam, Saint Jean-Theophane Vénard, priest of the Paris Society for Foreign Missions and martyr, who, after six years of clandestine ministry marked by hardship and suffering, locked in a cage and condemned to death under Emperor Tự Đức, went peacefully to his martyrdom."